1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of woodwind musical instruments and more particularly, to a structure of an instrument body which enables proper securement of posts thereto and proper alignment of a tone hole cover with a tone hole.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is shown in FIG. 1 a woodwind instrument 1 of the type which opens a tone hole 2 by means of the combination of a key 3 and an arm 4 having a tone hole cover 5 at one end both supported by a pair of posts 6 via a hinge rod 7. Heretofore, the posts 6 are threadably secured directly to the outer peripheral surface of an instrument body 8 as shown in FIG. 2. Specifically, a pair of holes 9 are formed in the instrument body 8 and each hole 9 is intended to receive a corresponding externally threaded lower portion 10 of each of the posts 6 for engagement therewith. In this manner, however, naturally, the length l of each of the externally threaded lower portions can not be greater than the thickness t of the instrument body 8, causing less securement of the posts 6 thereto. Consequently, the posts 6 may not properly be positioned against the instrument body 8, resulting in malfunction of the key 3 and misalignment of the tone hole cover 5 with the tone hole 2.
Furthermore, in the event that posts are secured to portions of different thickness as shown in FIG. 3, a thinner portion requires a longer post 6a than the other post 6b in that the longitudinal axis of the hinge rod 7 must be parallel to that of an instrument body 1a for proper alignment of the tone hole cover 5 with the tone hole 2. As is clear in FIG. 3, the longer post 6a is more subject to release from the instrument body 1a than the above-mentioned case due to less securement thereof to the instrument body 1a.